Jeremiah 10:1-5
World English Bible
10 Hear the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel! 2 Yahweh says,
“Don’t learn the way of the nations,
and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky;
for the nations are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity;
for one cuts a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold.
They fasten it with nails and with hammers,
so that it can’t move.
5 They are like a palm tree, of turned work,
and don’t speak.
They must be carried,
because they can’t move.
Don’t be afraid of them;
for they can’t do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”
Jeremiah 10:1-5
New English Translation
The Lord, not Idols, is the Only Worthy Object of Worship
10 You people of Israel,[a] listen to what the Lord has to say to you.
2 The Lord says:
“Do not start following pagan religious practices.[b]
Do not be in awe of signs that occur[c] in the sky
even though the nations hold them in awe.
3 For the religion[d] of these people is worthless.
They cut down a tree in the forest,
and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.[e]
4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold.
He uses hammer and nails to fasten it[f] together
so that it will not fall over.
5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.
They cannot talk.
They must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them
because they cannot hurt you.
And they do not have any power to help you.”[g]
Notas al pie
- Jeremiah 10:1 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
- Jeremiah 10:2 tn Heb “Do not learn the way of the nations.” For this use of the word “ways” (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) compare, for example, Jer 12:16 and Isa 2:6.
- Jeremiah 10:2 tn Heb “signs.” The words “that occur” are supplied in the translation for clarity.sn The Hebrew word translated here as “things that go on in the sky” (אֹתוֹת, ʾotot) refers to unusual disturbances such as eclipses, comets, meteors, etc., but also to such things as changes in position of the sun, moon, and stars in conjunction with the changes in seasons (cf. Gen 1:14). The people of Assyria and Babylonia worshiped the sun, moon, and stars, thinking that these heavenly bodies had some hold over them.
- Jeremiah 10:3 tn Heb “statutes.” According to BDB 350 s.v. חֻקָּה 2.b it refers to the firmly established customs or practices of the pagan nations. Cf. Lev 20:23; 2 Kgs 17:8. Here it is essentially equivalent to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) in v. 1, which has already been translated “religious practices.”
- Jeremiah 10:3 sn This passage is dripping with sarcasm. It begins by talking about the “statutes” of the pagan peoples as a “vapor” using a singular copula (הוּא, hu’, “it,” functioning as subject for an understood verb) and singular predicate. Then it suppresses the subject, the idol, as though it were too horrible to mention, using only the predications about it. The last two lines read literally: “for a tree from the forest, one cuts it down, a work of hands of a craftsman with the chisel.”
- Jeremiah 10:4 tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, referring to the parts.
- Jeremiah 10:5 tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”
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